


Daring Darling

by jirachiwish



Series: Daring Darling [1]
Category: Ever After High
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 02:05:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7021336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jirachiwish/pseuds/jirachiwish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tora Hanate is a young paladin who wants to become the greatest hero that the world has ever seen. Darling Charming is the daughter of King and Queen Charming, but refuses to accept her destiny of being a 'damsel in distress' simply because she is a princess. Instead, she wants to become 'the hero' who rescues innocent people and saves the 'damsel in distress.' Together, they set out to change the world together, starting with Ever After.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Royal Paladin Academy

An Ever After High X MOC Fanfiction Series

"Young Paladins, welcome to the Royal Paladin Academy. My name is Master Hanate, and I am the Headmaster of this school," Master Hanate said to the new group of young paladin hopefuls standing in attendance at orientation. "In two days, you will begin your 4 year long journey to becoming a paladin at this school. Here at the Royal Paladin Academy, we not only bring you the highest quality education in Ever After, but, you will also learn to defend yourself as well as protect your future 'damsel in distress'," he said.

"Tomorrow, you will be touring throughout the school so that once you begin in two days, you will know all the ins-and-outs of this school, as this will be your home for 4 years. As for your tour guides," Hanate paused, "they will be the current senior class here at the academy. But, for today, you all may rest for the rest of the day. Good luck to all of you, and hopefully, you will be able to one day serve as part of the King's Royal Guard. You all are dismissed," he ended.

After his prolonged speech, Hanate heard a familiar voice shout his name from behind him. He turned, and saw his son, Tora, running up to him. "Dad," he said, "about the tour guides. May I be one this year?" he asked. "Hah, my son, you have been asking me every single day up to now for the past week about being a guide," Hanate laughed. "Alright, you may be one, even though you already graduated last year," Hanate said. "I will make this exception for you because you have proven yourself over the years as the greatest swordsman this school has seen, as well as graduated at the top of your class with the highest scores we have ever seen as well," he laughed. "Oh thank you Dad," Tora said, "I will do my best tomorrow," he said as he turned to leave the orientation stand. "I'm sure you will son, I am proud of you," Hanate said.

Suddenly, a man wearing the armor of the King's Royal Guard rushed into the room. "Headmaster Hanate, sir, a message from the King," the man stated. "Ah, Godfrey, yes, what is the news?" Hanate asked. "Sir, his majesty, the King has asked that all the recent graduates from this school come to the royal palace at the start of the new semester in two days. His majesty has proclaimed that he wishes to choose some of the graduates from this school to join the Royal Guard. He also specifically requested Tora's presence at the palace, sir. He is very interested in him," Godfrey said in an excited frenzy.

"Very well," Hanate said calmly. "You will summon all the graduates to come to the Royal Palace in two days' time. They will be very excited to attend as well, and I do hope that they represent the academy well." He turned to Tora, "you will be attending this event, will you not?" he asked his son. "I would be honored to meet the King, and since he requested me personally, there is no way that I can refuse him," Tora proclaimed. "Good," Hanate said, turning to Godfrey. "Summon the graduates at once over the pm," he ordered. "Yes sir, right away," Godfrey said as he turned to leave.

"Attention everyone, this is Godfrey, secretary of Headmaster Hanate, and a member of the King's Royal Guard," he stated over the pm. "All graduate paladins, please come to the Royal Palace in two days' time. The King wishes to select members to add to his Royal Guard," Godfrey said. "That is all, thank you," he ended, as he turned off the pm.


	2. Unrest at the Palace

*Two Days Later*

At the palace, King Charming was busy preparing for his event later that day. "Father," said a voice that soothed the King's pre-event jitters. The King turned to see Darling, his beautiful young daughter walking up to him, her platinum-blond hair delicately bouncing up and down as she bounded to his side. "Father, I want to participate in this event," she stated bluntly. The King's good mood at seeing his daughter shattered as he took in the full grasp of her request. "No Darling, I will not let you be in this event. This is a test for the graduates at the Royal Paladin Academy to prove that they deserve to be a part of my Royal Guard. I will not allow you to join the Guard. You're a princess, so I will not allow you to wield a sword. It's much too dangerous for a girl like you," he said. "As a princess, your destiny is to be a 'damsel in distress,' not a hero like your brothers are," he said with a sigh. Darling looked furious at this harsh statement, and stormed off shouting back at him. "Why won't you let me join the Guard? I was the White Knight in Wonderland! But ever since you realized that I was the White Knight and not Daring, you have treated me so much differently lately. I hate it."

King Charming looked on as she stormed off, then proceeded to call Daring and Dexter. "Boys, you understand that you must follow your destinies, right? Why can't Darling just accept hers as easily?" he asked. "I don't understand why or even how she became obsessed with doing heroic deeds and swordsmanship," he said. "I want you boys to look after her, make sure she doesn't do anything rash or stupid. Do you understand?" he asked his sons. "Yes Father, we understand," Daring and Dexter said together. "Very well," the King said. "Now go. I have to finish preparations for the paladins' arrival."


	3. The Test Begins

The paladins arrived an hour later at the royal palace. Axelson, the King's Royal Announcer, walked up to the group of paladins. "Welcome to the Royal Palace. Right this way please," he said. The paladins followed him to the royal hallway where the King sat at his throne; Daring, Dexter, and Darling at his side. "Young Paladins," Axelson began, "I present to you your king, His Majesty, King Charming." Turning to the king, Axelson proclaimed, "Your Majesty, may I present the young graduates of the Royal Paladin Academy."

King Charming stood up from his seat, "I thank you all for being able to attend this event. I welcome you all to the royal palace, and I hope to see many of you in my Royal Guard," he proclaimed. "However, I will now test you all to see who among you may join my Royal Guard. There will be a tournament, single elimination to decide whom amongst you may join. The semi-finalists of this tournament will all be offered spots on my Guard, as several of my previous guards have retired from my service recently." He looked to Axelson, "Bring out the tickets," he said. Looking back at the group, "you will all each be given a ticket from 1-16. These will decide who your opponents will be for the first round." Axelson returned, carrying an upturned helmet containing 16 slips of papers. "Please take one each," he said. Tora approached the helmet and took one slip. "It looks like I am number 1," he said. After Tora, every paladin approached and received their numbers.

After everyone had received their tickets, King Charming announced, "the first round will now begin. Number 1 and 16, please step up to the floor." Tora and another paladin stepped onto the floor. "Ready," Axelson announced, "and begin!" Tora's opponent immediately drew his sword, raised it, and rushed at Tora. Using the sheath of his blade, Tora, blocked the downward strike with both hands, and, after pushing his opponent back, kicked him hard in the stomach. The young paladin staggered backwards, and, seeing that Tora's blade was still sheathed, became enraged. "Draw your sword Tora! Just because you were the top of our class doesn't mean you can look down on me!" he shouted.

He rushed at Tora once more, and Tora defended the same way. After his second attempt failed, he switched to thrusting at Tora with his sword. At this vain attempt, Tora easily parried his attack, and, using the tip of the sheath, hit his opponent square in the gut. His opponent fell, with Tora standing above him, staring down with a bored look at his fallen opponent. "The winner of the first match of the first round is, Tora Hanate! He now moves on to the quarter-finals," Axelson announced.

The matches continued, with paladins falling one after the other, and others advancing to the next fight. As the last quarter-final match ended, King Charming stood up once more. "To those of you who have proven victorious thus far, I offer you positions in the Royal Guard. Congratulations. You have all proven your skills to myself and the royal family." He turned to look at Tora, who stared back with his now usual blank face. "Now, to determine the winner of this tournament. To the four of you, I offer the winner of this tournament the position of Vice-Captain of the Royal Guard, and appoint them to be the personal guard for my daughter, Darling Charming" he proclaimed. At this, Darling turned sharply to look at her father, then turned to look at Tora, the one that her father took so much interest in. 'I wonder if he is any good,' she thought to herself. 'Maybe I'll have to test him myself if he wins this tournament.' "Now then," the King announced, "may the semi-finals begin!"


	4. Tournament Results

Tora stepped onto the floor where he stood face-to-face with his semi-final opponent. "You haven't unsheathed your sword at all during this tournament, so I'm going to make you reveal your blade to me," the paladin said. "Try it then," Tora said. "Force me to unsheathe my blade. But just know, you don't want to know happens once the sheath come off." The match began, and the paladin was quickly defeated without Tora revealing his blade once, merely defeating him with his sheath. "The winner of the first semi-final match is Tora Hanate," Axelson announced. 

"Why don't you take me seriously?" his opponent asked. "Just because you're the Headmaster's son doesn't mean you can look down on us every single moment of every single day!" he shouted. At this exclamation, Tora looked angry at his opponent. "Don't you ever think that just because I'm the Headmaster's son that I get special treatment, because I don't! I work just as hard as all of you, if not harder in order to uphold my father's honor each and every single day. Don't you dare make excuses just because you lost to me!" Tora shouted in rage. At this, his opponent shrunk back in fear, as Tora turned and walked away from the match.

The second semi-final match ended and the finals were beginning. Tora lined up opposite his opponent. "You know, I graduated at the bottom of our class," his opponent said. "But now, I've risen to the top because of this tournament. I worked hard to get to this moment and prove to everyone else that I deserve to be a part of the Royal Guard." He unsheathed his sword and made a stance, holding his sword with both hands. "What's your name?" Tora asked. "My name is William Harkins," the paladin said. "Well then, William, let's begin," Tora said. Harkins ran at Tora, and they both met in the middle of the floor, sword against unsheathed sword.

Both stepped back, and rushed at each other again and again, swords locked in combat. Tora swung his sword at Harkins, and kicked him back a few feet. Harkins stumbled backwards, and, seeing an opportunity, Tora jumped and swung his sheathed sword at Harkins' head. Harkins blocked the attack, but the force of the blow knocked him to his knees. Tora stepped back, waiting for his opponent to stand up before resuming the attack. Harkins rose, and charged at Tora. Seeing his opponent charge him hastily, Tora finally unsheathed his sword and, using both sheath and sword, in a v-formation, sliced at Harkins' blade. The speed of the attack with both the sword and the tough hide of the sheath broke Harkins' sword in half, as the tip was buried into the ground behind Harkins. Upon turning around to look at his broken tip buried, Harkins fell to his knees. "I surrender," he said reluctantly. "The winner of the tournament, is Tora Hanate," Axelson announced. King Charming rose to his feet, "for winning my tournament, I hereby decree that Tora Hanate is the new Vice-Captain of the Royal Guard, and, is my daughter, Darling Charming's, personal guard. Congratulations my boy," he decreed.


	5. Darling's Decision

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Tora said, bowing to King Charming. Suddenly, Darling rose from her seat, and approached Tora. "Well done, Tora," she said. "I was watching you with a piqued interest since my father took such an interest in you. It almost seems like this tournament was made for you," she said, jealously.

Drawing a sword that she had kept hidden from sight, she approached Tora. "Fight me," she said. "I want to know how strong you are if you're going to be my personal guard," she said as she raised her sword at him. Seeing that she was serious, Tora drew his sword from his sheath. "You know Princess," he said, "I only draw my sword when I acknowledge someone, whether it be their strength or their determination that touches me deep inside. I see both in you." They both rushed at each other, swords unsheathed with the ring of the blades resounding throughout the hallway as they fought each other.

At this sight, King Charming grew enraged. "Guards! Surround my daughter! And take away that blade!" he shouted. The Royal Guard surrounded her in a circle, forcefully separating Tora and Darling. The Guard raised their swords at her, Darling staring defiantly at them with her blade raised as well. "Why can't you allow me to even test my own guard?" she asked, turning towards where her father stood. "Why?" he said. "Because it is not safe for a girl, especially the princess of Ever After, to play with such a dangerous weapon," he said harshly. Upon realizing the situation at hand, Tora sympathized with Darling, and, due to his light armor and a great show of athletic ability, vaulted over the heavily-armored circle of paladins to stand back-to-back with Darling, sword raised as well. "Tora!" the King shouted. "What is the meaning of this?" "With all due respect, Your Majesty," Tora began, choosing his words carefully, "I may be your Vice-Captain, but you also appointed me to be the personal guard of your daughter. Whatever she wishes is my duty to help her, no matter what. I will stand by her decision, Sir," he ended.

The king rose, "Royal Guard, stop them!" he commanded. The Royal Guard obeyed, swords at the ready to attack Tora and Darling. Tora and Darling tensed, poised to defend the assault. The Guard rushed at them, Tora and Darling coordinating in perfect sync, parrying attacks, and fighting their way out of the circle. Seeing them escaping from the circle of guards, King Charming commanded that the graduate paladins join in the assault as well.

With both the Guard and graduates running at them, Tora turned to face them, running his hand over his blade, green energy accumulating over the length of the blade. Upon making a slashing motion, the green energy was shot at the paladins running towards them, hitting them square in the chest, knocking them back. "Impressive," Darling commented. "My turn," she said, as she ran her hand over her blade, fire enveloping her blade before slashing at the ground in front of the group. Fire sprung up in a blaze in front of the paladins, trapping them on the other side. "I learned that in Wonderland," she said. "Cool," Tora said impressed. "I learned my technique while learning under my father."

Looking at the embarrassment that was his Guard, King Charming turned to Axelson. "My bow and arrows, Axelson," he ordered. Axelson gave him his bow and a set of arrows. King Charming turned and raised the bow at Tora. "For defying me, Tora, I revoke your position of Vice-Captain. That position will go to Harkins. As for my daughter," he paused. "Your continued insolence and ignorance of my wishes leaves me no choice but to banish you from this castle," he said. Poised to strike, Tora grabbed Darling's hand and ran towards the hallway entrance. "Princess, this way," he said as they ran across the hall. King Charming proceeded to shoot three arrows at them.

Shoving Darling forward, Tora turned to parry the attack. Blocking two of them by spinning, he turned to block the third arrow, but was instead struck in the chest and fell to the ground. "Tora!" Darling screamed, running towards him as Tora removed the arrow from his chest, blood gushing out of the wound. "Princess, get away to the Academy while you can. My father will help you. I will catch up to you as soon as I finish this," he said, struggling to his feet. As he said this, King Charming raised his bow again, set to shoot. As the fire died down, the guards managed to escape and rushed toward the wounded Tora.

Darling ran at Tora's request, fleeing past the entrance, past the castle towards the Academy, crying. Tora rose, and rushed to meet the paladins. Suddenly, the King's arrows hit him, and Tora staggered back and fell once again. The Guard surrounded him when suddenly, Tora's body was enveloped by a purple mist. "Sorry," he said, "but looks like you're not going to be catching me that easily." At this, Tora disappeared from the hallway, the King's next set of arrows piercing the empty ground where he had laid.

After Tora's abrupt escape from the castle, King Charming turned towards his sons in rage. "DARING! DEXTER! You had ONE JOB! ONE!" he screamed. "You were supposed to make sure that Darling didn't do anything rash or stupid." At this, Daring and Dexter shrunk back, surprised at their father's burst of rage. "We're sorry father," they said in unison. "We didn't know that she was planning something like this," Daring said. King Charming sighed. "I requested Tora because he was Hanate's son. It seems that my old friend has raised quite the troublemaker," he said. Looking at the chaos that lay in front of him, he shouted at the Royal Guard. "What are you just standing there for? Go find them!" he commanded, as the paladins rushed to recompose themselves and they ran out the castle after Tora and Darling. King Charming sighed and sat down on his throne, rubbing his head in anxiety. "How did this event turn out so wrong," he wondered aloud as he stared at the mess that the hallway was in.


	6. Healing

Back at the Academy, Master Hanate and Darling were discussing the events that had happened at the palace. When Tora arrived by way of purple mist, both turned sharply to look at him, struggling to stand, blood dripping from his wounds. Tora looked up at them, gave them a weak smile, and then collapsed on the ground. "Tora!" Darling shouted, as she and Hanate ran towards him. Hanate stooped down and picked him up gently off the ground. "Darling, we must get him to the infirmary," he said firmly, as they both rushed Tora into the infirmary.

When they had finally gotten inside and laid Tora down on one of the beds, Darling and Hanate faced each other. "I'm sorry sir, it's all my fault Tora got hurt. I abandoned him sir," she said, almost on the brink of tears. "Do not blame yourself Darling, Tora merely did his duty to you," he said gently. "But," she began, but was quickly interrupted by Hanate. "Darling," he said, "I am sure he will recover. He is strong. But, he did do his duty to you as your personal guard. As your guard, his duty is to protect you at all costs, no matter what." "I just feel so worthless and so helpless. I couldn't do anything. I hate it," she said bitterly, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. "Darling, do not dwell on the past, it will do you no good," he said. "However, this behavior from your father is certainly disagreeable," he said. "I have known your father for many years, and I know that he is a wise and good king," he said. Darling looked up at Hanate, surprised by his comment. "I have known you for a very long time," he began. "Darling, I have seen you grow up from a tiny infant into the beautiful, courageous, young woman that you have become. Do not take me the wrong way, child, what your father did, banishing you from the castle grounds, was wrong. But, I do believe that his intentions were there. I believe that deep down, he wanted to protect his daughter, because you're the only one he has, and you are precious to him," he said.

"But, my father stripped Tora of his position as well. It isn't fair to him or to you," she said. "Do you not think that Tora understood that by defying the King to stay with you that there would be no consequences?" he asked, looking at Tora. "Tora was treated badly by his classmates," he said. "Due to him being at the top of the class, everyone became jealous of him, and in turn, hated him for his talent. Due to their treatment towards him, Tora became lonely, with only the goal of becoming the best paladin in the world holding him together. It's quite sad," he said wistfully.

Darling looked shocked to hear this, and looked at Tora, who remained still on the bed, bandages covering his chest, blood seeping through the gauze. "With this recent event, I actually feel proud of him. It seems that he has finally found someone worth fighting for, and to me, that outweighs everything else," he said looking back at Darling. After hearing this, Darling began to feel a sense of loneliness, realizing the broken relationship that she had with her father, compared to the relationship she saw before her.

"You love him, don't you?" she asked Hanate. "Of course, he is my son. But that doesn't mean your father doesn't love you any less," he told her. "In fact, your father and I may have our differences, but there is one thing that we have in common," he said. "What is it?" she asked, wondering what this loving, warm-hearted man could have in common with her cold, harsh father. "We both want to keep our children safe," he said. "Your father doesn't want you to hold a sword because he's afraid that one day, you'll go out looking for adventure, and never return. He will have lost you," he continued. "The same goes for me, as well. I know that Tora wants to become a great paladin someday, follow his destiny. But, I always fear for him whenever he goes off on adventures. Today's event had me especially worried. When I saw him, I was so scared that I had lost my only son," he said sadly.

Hanate looked down at his son, a small smile on his face as he looked at his heroic son. "I would assume that the King will probably come after you," he told her. "In that case, once you both set off, I will settle this issue with him," he said. "But, since the situation is quite tense right now, I want you and Tora to go into hiding right now." Walking up to Tora, Hanate held out his hands towards Tora, green, healing light covering the wound.

Suddenly, Darling and Hanate heard voices outside the infirmary. Darling ran to the window and looked outside. Students were looking outside at the entrance, where the King's Royal Guard were trying to push their way through the front gate. Darling looked at Hanate, "Sir, the Royal Guard is here," she said frantically. "Calm down," he said, lifting Tora up. Passing him to her, Hanate picked up a book of spells that he had received from the King a long time ago. Reading off a teleportation spell, he turned to face her. "I am sending you both to the Dark Forest," he said. "The Royal Guard will not find you there. I want you to go to Ever After High, a school for the children of Fairy Tale characters. There, Headmaster Grimm will help you," he told her. Finishing the spell, he walked out the front door, "I will make sure that they do not suspect that you were here," he said. "Good luck," Hanate ended, as purple mist once again surrounded Darling and Tora, as they were teleported into the Dark Forest.


	7. Encounter in the Dark Forest

Tora and Darling were whisked into the Dark Forest. Darling set Tora down on the ground, hovering over him. She unwrapped the bandages slowly, afraid to see blood come out of the wound. When she saw that the bleeding had stopped, she sighed in relief. "Princess," he said quietly, as he woke up, pushing himself off the forest floor. "Don't push yourself," she said softly, helping him into a sitting position. "Where are we?" he asked. "Your father teleported us into the Dark Forest," she said, looking around at their surroundings. Tall dark trees with twisted branches seemed to reach out for them, dead leaves littering the ground along what seemed to be the only pathway, leading deeper into the forest.

Looking in the opposite direction, she saw in the distance, light penetrating the deep darkness. "There is where we need to go," she told him. "Here, get up," she said firmly but gently, helping Tora to his feet. While the healing spell had stopped the bleeding, the wounds had not completely healed yet, as Tora grunted in pain as he got to his feet. They walked together towards the light, occasionally stopping on the way to rest. After two hours of walking, they heard the sound of running in the distance. "Quick, hide," Darling said, as they both ran into the brush out of sight.

Poking her head out of the brush, Darling saw a young girl with short dark brown hair with white streaks and a red hood run towards their position, followed by two girls chasing after her. "Cerise, stop," said a girl with long, raven-colored hair. "What are you looking for?" she asked. Cerise turned, looking back at the girl. "Raven, I smell blood," she said, turning in Darling's direction. Her eyes suddenly turned yellow, as she slowly walked over to Darling, and uncovered the brush.

"Who are you?" she asked Darling in a harsh tone, who in turn looked up at her with wide, scared eyes. "Cerise, what are you looking at?" asked Raven, anxious to see what her friend had found. "A girl, along with a wounded boy," she said as she moved back to let Tora and Darling stand up, brushing themselves off. "Where are you from?" Raven asked them. "We came from the royal palace," Darling said quietly, unsure as to how to respond in the situation. "The Royal Palace? How did they end up here then?" asked a girl with long, curly blonde hair. "Apple, be quiet," Cerise told her quickly. Looking at Tora, she turned to look at the light. "Come with us, you can explain how the two of you got here to Headmaster Grimm. And, it looks like he's in no condition to move," she told them, as the three girls slowly led Darling and Tora towards the light.


	8. The Consequence of Action

*Meanwhile, at the Royal Paladin Academy*

Master Hanate approached the Royal Guard at the gate. "Welcome, how may I help you?" he asked them. "Where are Darling Charming and Tora Hanate?" one of the guards asked. "I'm sorry sir, they did not come here," Hanate told them politely. "Would you come with us then? The King will want to talk to you about this most recent event," the guard asked Hanate. "Alright then, if it is the King's order, then I cannot refuse," Hanate said, as he was escorted by the Guard towards the palace.

At the palace, Hanate was escorted by Axelson to the throne room. "Your Majesty, Headmaster Hanate of the Royal Paladin Academy," Axelson announced, before quickly leaving the room, closing the door with a quiet echo. "Charming," Hanate began, but was interrupted by Charming. "Hanate, what is the meaning of this?" Charming asked him. "What do you mean?" Hanate asked. "You've been like a brother to me, yet it seems as though your son doesn't have the same respect that you do," he said. "Impossible, my son is one of the most respectful young men I've ever seen," Hanate said. "Enough," Charming said, raising his hand. "It seems that as you haven't taught your son some manners, I will have to see that he learns them myself," he said. "What do you mean by that?" Hanate asked in surprise.

"I have decided to place a bounty on him," he said. "For his capture, 30,000 gem charms. I will have him brought to me, so that I can teach him some respect, in the dungeon," he said. "30,000 gem charms?! Are you insane? And you want to put my son in the dungeon? I will not allow you to do that!" Hanate said fiercely.

"Don't worry, I will also see to it that my daughter is punished as well for her disobedience of me," he said. "Your son won't be alone in the dungeon." At this declaration, Hanate was shocked. "What happened to you, Charming? Since when did your heart become so cold?" Hanate said in a desperate tone. "What happened, you ask? I'll tell you. The fact that my daughter has been keeping such a terrible secret from me is what happened. I blame myself for her rebellious attitude. So now, I have decided to fix my mistakes my own way. The only way I know how," he fired back.

"I was hoping that it would not come to this," Hanate said, drawing his sword, silent tears rolling down his cheeks. "You dare raise your sword at me, Hanate? I am your king," Charming said in a loud voice. "I have decided to protect both Tora and Darling," Hanate retorted. "I was wrong about you. I thought that you wanted the best for Darling as she is your one and only daughter, but it seems as though I misunderstood you," he said. Hanate charged at Charming, who in turn picked up his bow and raised it, the arrow pointed at Hanate's heart.

Charming shot the arrow, Hanate deflecting it with ease. As Hanate drew closer to him, Charming blocked his attack with the bow, and pushed Hanate back. Hanate staggered back, recovering from the recoil of being pushed backwards. Drawing a hidden knife from inside his breastplate, Charming lunged at Hanate, plunging the knife into Hanate's heart. Hanate screamed, as Charming stabbed him over and over again. As the life started to drain from his eyes, Hanate fell, backwards, blood gushing from his several stab wounds. Charming looked down at his old friend with cold eyes, staring at Hanate dying on the ground. "I will have order in my kingdom," Charming said coldly. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you, Darling, Tora," Hanate said weakly, gasping for air for the last time before the light faded from his eyes, the tears from his eyes turning blood red as they rolled down his face to stain the hallway floor.

"Axelson," Charming called, as his announcer came into the room. Axelson looked from Charming to Hanate and stared at the ground in abject horror. "Tell the maids, that I want the blood cleaned up, and the body buried," Charming ordered him. "Ah, yes, Sire, right away," Axelson said quickly as he ran out of the room. "I will have order in my kingdom," Charming whispered once again, sitting on his throne as he looked down at Hanate's body, as the maids entered the room with wide, horrified expressions and cleaning equipment.


End file.
